A new player in the airline industry is set to start operations in March with routes connecting big cities in the archipelago and also serving international destinations such as Mumbai, India; Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Singapore.

Planning to start operation with two Airbus A320-200s and two Fokker 50s, privately owned Pacific Royal has won approval to fly 81 routes, 70 percent of which will be domestic.

“The process to obtain the Air Operator Certificate is already in its last phase and we are currently waiting for flight tests,” Pacific Royal CEO Samudra Sukardi said on Wednesday.

For domestic routes, Samudra said that the airline would use the Fokker 50s to link Surabaya, East Java; and Batam, Riau; to other cities across the cities such as Banyuwangi and Madiun, East Java; Pekanbaru and Natuna; Riau; and Jambi.